1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to therapeutic wraps for the human body and, more particularly, to devices for applying either reusable or disposable hot or cold packs to differing portions of the human body. Specifically, the present invention is related to therapeutic wraps designed to apply individual hot or cold packs to a wide variety of different portions of the human body which wrap may itself be either disposable or reusable as desired by the user of the wrap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Physical exercise and, in particular, participation in various athletic activities are currently very popular forms of recreation. Furthermore, physical exercise and athletic activities are entered into by young and old alike, with age being much less a factor these days in limiting one's activities. As a result of such an increase in physical activities by numerous different people of all gender, backgrounds and ages, a wide variety of injuries, both minor and major, have become commonplace. Such injuries occur to joints, muscles and/or limbs in nearly every part or portion of the human body. These injuries are treated in a variety of ways including the use of slings, immobilizing splints, or fluid absorbent materials. In addition, it is common to utilize thermal packs, i.e. either hot packs or cold packs, to alleviate pain, reduce swelling and/or increase blood circulation to the affected body part.
These thermal packs can be one-time-use types of packs, or they may be reusable by heating in a microwave or cooling in a freezer. Examples of such reusable packs include those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,224, 4,588,400, 4,756,311, 4,865,012 and 5,150,707. Such thermal packs traditionally have been held in place either by hand, or by swathes of tape or elastic rubberized fabric wrapped around both the thermal pack and the injured body part. The first approach, depending upon the placement of the thermal pad, is uncomfortable, inconvenient or else virtually impossible depending upon the body part to which the thermal pack or pad must be applied. The taping method is awkward at best in that a thermal pack may readily shift position. In the case where the pack must be replaced by a fresh pack in order to maintain the desired temperature, the wrap material must be wrapped and then rewrapped, which is not only time-consuming but may be extremely uncomfortable where adhesive materials are used to secure the pack. Where an elastic fabric bandage is used to secure the pack, the compounded effect of the bandage as it is wrapped around a body and a thermal pack can reduce circulation, or at best may become uncomfortable. Moreover, many people are allergic to adhesives and the rubberized or latex materials used in such tape and elastic wraps.
More recently, specialized thermal packs have been developed which incorporate the thermal pad as a part of an adhesive or wrap material. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,573,791, 3,587,578, 3,871,376, 3,889,684, 3,929,131, 5,135,518 and 6,024,761. Other types of specialized thermal packs have been developed that come in a variety of sizes and shapes and are configured to treat a specific body area which is injured. Examples of such body portion specific devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,648 (a woman's breast area), U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,103 (the head), U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,235 (the wrist) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,947 (tennis elbow). While the specificity of these devices aid in the treatment of injuries, significant difficulties are encountered as one attempts to forecast the various different types of injuries to be incurred and then seeks to have a sufficient variety of specialized thermal packs available to meet these various needs. As a result, if the required specialized device is not available for a specific injury, the injuries are then often treated with rudimentary, makeshift materials which are significantly less effective. This, of course, prevents the most effective treatment at the onset of the injury, which is generally the most crucial time, thus allowing the injured part to worsen as well as to prolong the recovery time.
Instead of injury specific devices, a number of different types of the pack holding devices have been created to contain individual thermal packs or pads as described above. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,092,982, 4,676,247, 5,020,711 and 5,697,962. Such thermal pack holders are generally limited in the type of thermal pack utilized, thereby limiting their versatility in application to the specific injury sites. Furthermore, such packs are generally held in place by straps which wrap around the user and are then reattached to themselves. The straps must typically be secured in a particular fashion which further limits the variety of applications possible with such packs. Often, even the simplest modifications of a holder require realignment and twisting of the straps to secure the holder in place. Such general holders are not typically versatile enough to obtain the required configurations. The holder is often not sufficiently secure, and awkward wrapping can be such that the user is caused additional discomfort.
Because injuries can occur to large areas such as shoulders, backs and the like, as easily as to smaller areas such as wrists and elbows, various sized thermal pack holders have been developed. However, the inability of present devices to accommodate both large and small injuries while at the same time conforming to the injury sites for maximum thermal transfer has resulted in the aforementioned proliferation of injury specific thermal packs as well as different sizes of thermal pack holder devices. Moreover, the thermal pack holder devices, especially those designed for use with reusable thermal pads, are relatively complex to manufacture and expensive to purchase and are typically intended for reuse rather than to be disposed of after a single use. However, the cleaning and sanitizing of such reusable holder devices is difficult and messy at best, especially in the everyday household environment.
Therefore, there remains a need for a thermal pack assembly or device which is designed for use with readily available reusable thermal packs, which device is readily adaptable and modifiable for use at any body location to accommodate both large and small injuries without destroying the integrity of the device, and which may be either disposed after a single use or easily cleaned and sanitized for reuse. The present invention satisfies and meets these needs.